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General Information

Below, we detail the items and gems that you should use for your Shadow Impale Demon Hunter in Diablo 3
and why. We also list your paragon points and Kanai's Cube items. Updated for patch 2.6.1 and
Season 12.

The other pages of our Shadow Impale Demon Hunter guide can be accessed
from the table of contents on the right.

1. Best in Slot Gear and Alternatives

The build incorporates the complete Shadow's Mantle set, taking all six
available pieces and opening up the jewelry for the Endless Walk set and its
balancing act of damage multiplication and damage reduction. Rolls-wise, this
Impale-centric playstyle takes good advantage of Skill and Area Damage
affixes. You will be trying to reach at least a 37% CDR breakpoint for permanent
uptime of Vengeance, attainable from Paragon points,
Flawless Royal Diamond in the helm, a fully stacked
Gogok of Swiftness gem, and 1 other item with a max CDR roll, distributed
as you see fit (i.e. on shoulders). However you will do well to bump up your CDR
past the 40% barrier (with one more CDR roll on gear), in order to reach
permanent uptime of the 40% armor buff from Fan of KnivesBladed Armor.

Not skipping on any of the pieces required to obtain the 6 piece set bonus of
The Shadow's Mantle opens a powerful offensive combo in the jewelry: the Endless
Walk set, The Compass Rose ring and The Traveler's Pledge amulet. This
2.4 rework adds a unique mechanic that slowly increases your damage by up to a
100% if you remain stationary, and drains it away and increases your damage
reduction while moving. This dynamic fits the Shadow DH playstyle, as you
alternate between VaultRattling Roll bursts of movement with periods of
stationary Impale spam.

Your other ring slot will be taken by Convention of Elements, whose
rotation of elemental bonuses you will have to keep under close scrutiny. Once
the sequence reaches the Lightning element, you will enjoy a significant increase
to your damage — so try to adopt a strategy of drawing monster attention
during the off cycles, and major Impale spam during the Lightning cycle.
An alternative for the slot is the Elusive Ring, a Patch 2.4 addition that
reduces incoming damage by 60% after casting a mobility skill — a vital
bonus you will easily keep up by Vaulting at least once every 8
seconds.

You have a several legendaries vying for the bracer slot, adjusted according
to content. During solo Greater Rift progression, take Strongarm Bracers
for the 30% additive damage increase from the Rattling Roll knockup. The
same principle will apply to the belt slot, where adapting to the
content will yield the best results. Helpfully named after the set it fits, the
Chain of Shadows belt adds a powerful mobility tool for solo GR progress
and speedfarming: free Vaulting for 2 seconds after using Impale.
This power single-handedly allows you to cross great distances, ignoring the
limitations of your Discipline pool.

Reworked into a definite best-in-slot for Impale builds in Patch 2.5, the
Holy Point Shot quiver is a mandatory piece that practically triples your
damage output. An ideal roll would include Lightning elemental damage and Impale
% alongside the usual high Dexterity, Attack Speed and Crit Chance.

The best-in-slot weapon for the build is the Impale-specific
Karlei's Point dagger; where it lacks in flashy damage bonuses, it
more than makes up with a Hatred-refunding effect that cements your resource
management despite the costly (and otherwise unsustainable) main spender of the
build. An ideal roll would feature Attack Speed alongside high Damage range,
Damage % and Dexterity.

3. Gems

Bane of the Trapped is a potent source of additional damage, as it is its
own multiplier in your total damage calculation. The gem procs itself with its
level 25 property when in melee range, where Shadow DHs mostly fight; it can
otherwise be triggered by an activation of Shadow PowerNight Bane in mid
range, or through a follower's Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker.

Gogok of Swiftness is one of your gemming staples, indirectly providing
you with more damage and survivability by increasing Cooldown Reduction for
essential breakpoints, Attack Speed for faster Impale output, as well as scaling
Dodge chance.

Bane of the Powerful's duration scales very well with levels, and having
a low uptime on a decently leveled gem is a telling sign that the rift is
unfavorable for a solo Impale DH anyway (winding layout, lacking density,
insufficient or overly dangerous elites). The gem's default 20% damage increase
has been reworked into multiplicative, and the level 25 bonus now increases AND
reduces elite damage by 15%, making it a well-rounded choice for the build. For
extremely high end pushing however, you will need to gamble on high density rifts
where the scaling Attack Speed prowesss of Pain Enhancer triumphs over
your other options with the sheer number of Impales you will output per
second.

4. Kanai's Cube

A cubed Dawn reduces Vengeance's cooldown by the maximum 65%,
allowing for permanent uptime with a modest investment into Cooldown Reduction
— an opportunity you cannot pass up with Vengeance's damage,
resource and protection bonuses.

With resource stability ensured by Karlei's Point, it is only logical
to minimize the infamous Demon Hunter frailty with a cubed Aquila Cuirass
in solo Greater Rifts.

5. Follower

For more information regarding followers, we advise you to read our
Follower Guide, which contains detailed
advice for choosing the skills and the gear of your follower.

About the Author

This build is presented to you by Deadset,
one of the very few professional Diablo 3 players.
Deadset regularly publishes video guides on
Youtube and
streams on Twitch, where you can
see how this and other builds play out in practice.